Conceptualised by Ancona around two decades ago, Kid-Zania facilities consist of child-sized replicas of real cities, with their own currency and economy.
(Photo: Getty Images)MUMBAI: Having set up two facilities in India, Mexican edutainment theme park KidZania is game for expanding to a third city and considers the country its fastest growing market.

“India is one of the three largest markets for KidZania. India, together with China and the US, will be our biggest opportunity in the future. Right now we have two facilities in India — in Mumbai and Delhi (Noida) — and we are targeting Bengaluru for our third facility,” founder Xavier López Ancona told ET.

KidZania operates on a franchise model outside Mexico. The Indian franchise is owned by ImagiNation Edutainment India, in which actor Shah Rukh Khan holds 26% stake while the rest is owned by Singapore-based KidZ Inc — a venture of Comcraft Group, Xander Group and Maxfield Management. Each facility, Ancona said, requires an investment of $20-25 million.

“We opened Mumbai in 2013 and two-anda-half years later we opened Delhi (May 2016). I hope we find a location soon in Bengaluru and then we will see what the next market is,” he added.

Conceptualised by Ancona around two decades ago, Kid-Zania facilities consist of child-sized replicas of real cities, with their own currency and economy.

The indoor theme parks give children the feel of an actual city with real-life activities. Kids can play the roles of fire-fighters, police officers, actors, reporters, chefs, pilots, artists etc.

The Indian franchisee is considering smaller parks after the Bengaluru facility is operational, for which it is scouting for locations.

“We are going to take a relook at India after opening the Bengaluru property,” said Tarandeep Singh, marketing head of Kid-Zania India.

“We are also talking with our headquarters about other formats for smaller markets.” At about twothirds the size of current facilities, these will be more affordable to build and operate.

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